Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller dives into the end zone for a touchdown in Saturday's 42-14 win over Indiana. / George Fleiner/News Journal

Written by

Jon Spencer

CentralOhio.com

OSU By The Numbers • 0: Three-and-outs the Buckeyes had on offense Saturday. OSU is in the top five nationally in fewest 3-and-outs for the season. • 5: Tackles for loss by Ryan Shazier vs. the Hoosiers, tying a school record shared with four others. • 10: Consecutive games the Buckeyes have scored on their opening drive. • 12: Tackles for loss by the defense on Saturday, marking the third straight game in double digits. • 20: Career-high 20 tackles by Ryan Shazier on Saturday, making him the first to hit 20 since AJ Hawk vs. Wisconsin in 2004. • 21: Wins in 21 games by an Urban Meyer-coached team that blocks a punt, since 2005. • 23: Consecutive wins, breaking the school record of 22 originally set from 1967-69. • 25: Victories quarterbacked by Braxton Miller, moving him into a tie for fifth in program history with Rex Kern. • 51: Times the Buckeyes have scored in 54 trips inside the red zone this season. They were 3-for-3 vs. Indiana, all touchdowns. • 73: Touchdowns scored this season, a school-record. • 117: Yards rushing by Carlos Hyde vs. IU, making him the first OSU back to rush for over 1,000 yards since Beanie Wells in 2008 and the first 1,000-yard running back in Urban Meyer’s coaching career. • 536: Points scored this season, breaking the previous school record of 504 set in 1998.

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Remember how everyone was clamoring for unprecedented back-to-back football games this season between the Buckeyes and Michigan?

Now, at the risk of spewing sacrilege, it’s bad enough Ohio State has to play its archrival once.

At worst, the Buckeyes have their dreams of a second straight perfect season and national championship sabotaged next Saturday in Ann Arbor by an unranked foe desperately needing a win just to break even in Big Ten play.

At best, Ohio State beats a clearly broken Michigan team and hears more harping about how it hasn’t really beaten anybody on the road to perfection and one of the two BCS title game berths currently belonging to Alabama and Florida State.

Not only is “rivalry week,” as Urban Meyer called it after Saturday’s 42-14 rout of Indiana, upon us. So is another “no-win” week for the Buckeyes.

While they’ve done nothing but win under Meyer’s tutelage, the winners of a school-record 23 straight games can’t win at all where it counts most, in the court of public opinion.

“The BCS will work itself out,” defensive tackle Michael Bennett said. “You can’t really control it, so we just go out and try to win for each other.”

The Buckeyes were already in Michigan Week mode during Saturday’s post-game interviews, taking the lead from their coach and making sure not to say anything that could be even remotely construed as inflammatory about the woebegone Wolverines.

Never mind that Michigan can’t run the ball, its pass pro is what Homer Simpson would call pass “Doh!” and its quarterback is a turnover machine.

Almost on cue, Devin Gardner fumbled with his team driving toward a game-winning touchdown in the final minutes of Saturday’s 24-21 loss at Iowa. The Wolverines (7-4, 3-4 Big Ten) blew a 21-7 halftime lead and now find themselves in fifth place of the Legends Division, ahead of only slump-ridden Northwestern.

No matter. From the sound of it, you’d swear Ohio State is playing the other school up north next Saturday instead of in two weeks in the Big Ten Championship Game.

That’s how much respect Meyer has for this rivalry.

“This week,” he said, “you’re going to hear some very generic answers about everything because ... I’m not being a jerk to you guys ... our focus is on beating that rival team, and that’s it.”

Two years ago up there, Ohio State was a scandal-ridden team in turmoil and still came within a few fingernails of pulling off an upset on a Braxton Miller home run ball just beyond the reach of DeVier Posey.

If Posey doesn’t miss the first 10 games because of suspension, and if hidebound offensive coordinator Jim Bollman takes the restraints off his freshman quarterback before week 12, maybe the confidence and timing is there to complete that pass and send the OSU party home happy.

Last year, Michigan was an also-ran and given very little chance in Columbus, especially with Meyer making his head coaching debut in the rivalry and a perfect season on the line for the Buckeyes. It ended up being a five-point game.

Take anything for granted in this series and you’re likely to take your lumps.

“We don’t take anybody lightly,” offensive tackle Jack Mewhort said. “They’re still who they are ... storied history, good players and great athletes.”

Mewhort reprimanded a reporter Saturday who dared mentioned the next opponent by name. The exchange went like this:

“Jack, you’ve played Michigan three times now; going up there...”

“WHO?!!”

“That team up north.”

“OK.”

Across the room freshman Dontre Wilson was warming to the idea of playing Michigan for the first time while waiting for his hands — “they felt like bricks” — to thaw.

Wilson, who scored a 24-yard TD against Indiana on a little shovel pass from Miller, said he had never played in snow until Saturday’s squalls. He handled it better than his fellow Texans from No. 4 Baylor dealt with the bitter cold in Stillwater, OK., while being eliminated from BCS contention in a 49-17 blowout by Oklahoma State.

“I heard (Ohio State-Michigan) is the biggest rivalry in sports,” Wilson said, “not just the NFL or college, but the history of sports.

“I watched the game last year, but I don’t know much about it. I’m sure I’ll find out real soon.”